Twenty people discussed the possibilities and challenges for Cuba, socialism and the environment following a screening of the documentary Power of Community — How Cuba Survived Peak Oil at Gecko House in Currumbin on July 27.
"With three crisis looming over us — oil shortages and rising oil prices, planet-threatening climate change and a global economic crash — there probably has never been a more important time to see this film", Socialist Alliance state convenor Paul Benedek said while introducing the film. "Not only does the film reveal the danger of peak oil, it shows alternatives that are not just theories, but are being put into practice in a country where the environment and people's needs come before profit."
Power of Community documents how socialist Cuba dealt with its almost complete loss of access to oil when the Soviet Union collapsed. With no oil to run farm machinery or transport food from the countryside, food had to be produced sustainably and close to where the bulk of the population lived. All vacant urban land was turned into organic "city farms" and today the World Wildlife Fund names Cuba as the only environmentally sustainable country in the world.
The film screening was jointly organised by 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly and the Socialist Alliance. Everyone present was keen to organise more screenings at Gecko House, and GLW is organising future screenings across south-east Queensland, including the Sunshine Coast, Woodridge and Nundah. To get involved, phone Paul on 0410 629 088. Copies of Power of Community are available at most Resistance Bookshops (see page 2 for details).